Cookies & Carnitas

Met up w/​a good friend to catch up and grab a meal; Great atmosphere to just sit & eat. We both had two tacos, drink & their famous cookies; generous portions and great price. One of the two owners was working that evening; he was very informing and nice.

YUMMY! This place is great. The 2 owners are so friendly and generous. I love their pizza the most. It’s as close to NY style pizza that i have found in Chicago. Their cookies are so good too. i don’t eat meat but my friends have loved the pork carnitas every time we are there. They are huge and they always have to take a doggie bag. These guys are great cooks! Go there now!!!

Amazing tacos. Cool little dive. I hear the pizza is amazing too! I’ll be back again. For sure.

So yummy! My meat eater boys were in heaven and me, the vegetarian, also found heaven here. Super vegetarian friendly which one may not think because of their name. Pickled escabecha was great and spicy. Crispy portobello tacos were unbelievable. Kiddos LOVED the pizza and hubby LOVED his two meat tacos. Taking home the cookies to try later.

I’ve had to reduce my rating on this gem.
The service lately has just not been on par. The majority of my orders have had errors to the point where I have to remind them not to forget things and only then is the order complete. If you call ahead the 15 – 20 minute wait they state is more like a 45 minute wait.
The restaurant needs a manager so that the owner’s can focus on cooking and training their kitchen staff who appear young and inexperienced. This is easy to critique someone on when you don’t have the costs of overhead looming over you. With that, I understand business well to know it’s tough to hire people in the service industry and turn a profit: restaurants are losing businesses. That is why I’ve kept them at four-​stars, I see them struggling and try to remain human in my analysis. That being said, accountability are important and easy fixes would be to state accurate wait times, develop a process for validating orders, and train kitchen staff to be more attentive and perhaps urgent.
With small improvements I think this spot can be as glorious as it has been but without those I cannot give it the accolades I previously had.

My lady and I went here on a Saturday evening, a bit on a whim. A published review from 2014 made us more interested in going as the owners seem to be decidedly non pretentious and interested in putting out good food without much fuss. Right up our alley.
The counter person and one of the owners (we assume) were friendly when we arrived and offered assistance in menu selection. The rightly noted that 2 tacos per person would be more than enough food, so we went with that. we had the pork, goat, and crispy mushroom tacos. of the 3, the mushroom was the most flavorful filling. Others were good and plentiful in portions, but the meat was just OK. not bad at all, but not special. Which was disappointing.
The toppings on the tacos were pretty good! They come with a tasty crema, which at first looked like way too much, but ended up being not particularly rich so it was in good balance with the filling. The slaw was fresh and crunchy. The tortillas had a smoky flavor and were quite tasty and fresh. held up well with a pretty dense set of taco fillings.
The cookies are huge and yummy. Try the Kitchen Sink — chocolate, nuts, salt, espresso. probably a few other items that I forgot. At $ 3 they are almost as expensive as the tacos, but they can definitely be shared.
We will probably go back and check out some other menu items. The place has a good vibe to it and is a good value for the amount of food you get. They seemed to have a bunch of pizza orders (for delivery) some in, so would be interested to taste that too. Plus they deliver!

What this place lacks in atmosphere it makes up in quality, flavor, and personality. Portions are large, everything i have eatten from here is delicious. The goat sandwich and the pb&j cookie are my weaknesses. I eat here about once a week. Staff is friendly as well. Definately recommend this place.

My girlfriend and I tried this place out months ago and still go regularly, getting pork belly/​shoulder and steak tacos (I think pork shoulder is the best). The $ 4 price for a taco is worth it, as these things are packed full in two corn tortillas, just like it should be. Two is enough to get full on. The cookies are pretty good, if usually a little hard.

Good food. Reasonably priced. We had the Amish chicken,
pork shoulder, and pork belly tacos. Our favorite was pork shoulder – but all were good.
The chocolate chip cookies were good too!

We were here for the first time on NYE. We ordered the grilled cheese with applewood bacon and it blew my mind away! I wasn’t expecting much at first but as soon as I took the first bite, my thoughts were wow this is the cheesiest gooey goodness grilled cheese I’ve ever had in my entire life. We absolutely loved it so much that we couldn’t stop talking about it the following day (today) and were seriously considering taking a trip from oak park il all the way back to cookies and carnitas. Kudos to the guy in the front (I didn’t catch his name) he explained what’s the specialty about the place is. My only regret was choosing not to pig out totally missing out on the cookies but I will definitely be back to explore and sample more foods from the menu l. Overall wonderful experience and best of all, totally awesome food!

The tacos are bomb and huge. Big enough that 2 of them is enough for this 6’2″ 230lbs dude.
Here’s the big secret: THEIR PIZZA IS AMAZING. Better than the tacos. Go spinach, sausage, and roasted garlic. You won’t be disappointed.

This place is fire! Crazy fresh ingredients awesome tacos and pizza. Staff is funny and friendly. If you like good music, great food, and decent prices you need to try this place.

Great service!
The carnitas pork shoulder sandwich is topped with a honey coleslaw that’s not too rich. The hot sauce is just right for my taste. Pork shoulder is tender and has an adequate smoky flavor without being over the top. The French fries are hardy and have the skins on them. You don’t see that too often. Portion is large and filling.
Service was great and the staff is friendly.

I love that this pace has two things I crave the most, tacos and cookies! And believe me, they disappoint in neither! I have only gotten delivery but it’s been quick and delicious!

Went here for lunch today and really like the place. Super friendly with a cool menu. They’re a 15 minute drive from where I live, and well worth the drive. If they were closer to my house I’d be here once a week.
I had the pork shoulder sandwich, my son had a burger, and my wife had two tacos. Food is very flavorful with generous portions at a very reasonable price. We took some cookies to go, which I’ve not tried yet.

Had a delicious order of their loaded chili! Their tacos are super huge and worth the little extra price. You will leave here happy, and with a cookie to bring home. And it’s BYOB!

I had the opportunity to quickly stop in for a rather large «Triple-​Chocolate» and a «Cowboy» cookie recently, and all I can say is «YUM!».
The small restaurant boasts a fair amount of outdoor seating, a variety of entrée options, including a Portobello vegetarian taco, and many different types of cookies to choose from.
Stop by sometime, (bring cash!), if you get the chance — I’m glad I did!

Stopped in for a cookie and the suggestion of fellow Unilocal crew. Oatmeal raisin cranberry… LEGIT! One of the best cookies I have had in a while.
I have aeen and walked by place and have to admit never really got their concept. I walked in for my cookie and found they had full menu of sanwiches, salad and pizza. Ill be back to check in amd try some very appealing looking offerings.

I have been to Cookies and Carnitas several times now. I’ve had only their cookies, cookie ice cream sandwiches, and tacos. All are scrumptious. I am giving them an overall 4 stars for the spot-​on food.
On our last visit, it was clear that they were way busier than the one person at the front of the house could handle. This person was supposed to be taking orders, getting sides, getting drinks, getting cookies, and making sure guests were comfortable. He was so distracted. Examples: our side of pickled vegetables was taken to two other tables because he had forgotten who ordered it. I had to ask for drinks and remind him three times of the type of cookie I ordered. This type of thing was happening all over the dining room.
The food more than makes up for this. Also, the servers (and the person at the front!) were so friendly and so helpful that I feel bad even bringing this stuff up. But it needed to be said. Cookies and Carnitas is a great place, and everyone should try their food.

Sorry Cookies & Carnitas — I am not impressed. I had heard a lot of good things from friends, but I tried your pork belly taco, I tried your espresso-​chocolate-​nut cookie, I tried your skirt steak carnitas, and nothing was all that amazing or groundbreaking.
First and foremost I’m actually going to comment on the cookie. As a baker myself, I’m definitely more particular than others when it comes to this sort of thing, but I can tell you for sure that it was way too eggy and far too dry. The dryness is honestly because it was overbaked and probably was sitting out in the cold all day, but the eggy-​ness is almost inexcusable. Cookies should not be cakey. Period. If I wanted a dry cake, I’d just go to the supermarket. Other than that, there weren’t enough nuts, there wasn’t any coffee flavor whatsoever, and the chocolate was also questionable throughout the cookie. In short, this was nothing but an utter disappointment. ¹⁄₅ at best.
As for the savory part of the meal — the carnita and the taco — nothing really blew me away. The steak and pork belly were screaming for some seasoning, as was the slaw on both of them. There was no acid, no salt, no anything. Yes there was some honey, but the sriracha poured over it ended up taking over my taste buds completely. It’s such a shame too because both the meats were cooked correctly and were a good portion size, but without flavor basics, the dishes were just ruined.
Honestly if it weren’t for the amazingly sweet and hilarious wait staff, this review would’ve likely been ²⁄₅ stars just because of the food. I wouldn’t eat here again I don’t think, but I would be friends with the people that work there. So there’s that… I guess?